BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU (1-1) and UCLA (1-1) went the distance for the second consecutive night, which ended with UCLA defeating LSU 3-2 (25-12, 22-25, 25-20, 22-25, 6-15) Saturday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center to split the opening weekend series.
The Tigers won nearly every statistical category, including points (75-71), kills (56-55), aces (12-6), assists (53-49) and digs (64-52). However, the Bruins held the edge in blocks 10-7 and were more efficient with a .291 hitting percentage compared to LSU’s .196 clip.
Freshman outside hitter Jurnee Robinson matched her collegiate debut with another 23-kill performance and secured her first career double-double after digging 10 balls in the setback. Robinson also finished with two blocks and one assist. Outside hitter Sanaa Dotson was the
other Tiger to finish with double-digit kills after landing 12 and contributed nine digs, two aces and two assists to her stat line.
Setter Maddie Waak handed out 42 assists and snuck in three kills, two aces and one block. Middle blocker Anita Anwusi logged a match-high five blocks, including one solo, and added six kills on a .357 hitting percentage. Libero Erin Carmichael had a team-high 18 digs and matched a game-high three aces with right side Jade Demps, marking a new career-high for the junior transfer. Demps also added 17 digs in the match, with seven kills and two blocks.
Set 1
UCLA called an early timeout after a 4-0 run gave LSU an 8-3 lead. The Tigers continued to build their margin to nine at 19-10 when the Bruins called their final timeout of the set. Out of the break, LSU continued its 6-0 run and ran away with the set, 25-12. The Tigers recorded a .304 hitting percentage, led by Robinson’s five kills. LSU held UCLA to a .040 attacking percentage in the stanza and had three blocks.
Set 2
LSU jumped on UCLA early again and led 7-4, highlighted by a 4-0 run that pressured the visiting club into a timeout. The Bruins stormed back, tied the set at 13, and took their first lead of the frame at 15-14. LSU signaled for its first set timeout, trailing 17-14. LSU trimmed the deficit to two at 22-20 when UCLA called for time, but the visiting team overcame the threat and won the set 25-22 to tie the match.
Set 3
The Tigers scored the first five points of the set and forced the Bruins to burn an early timeout. LSU continued to increase its margin and led 16-8 when UCLA called for time again. Following the pause, LSU scored three of the following four points, but a 4-0 run by UCLA trimmed the lead to 19-13, and LSU called its first timeout of the frame. The Bruins kept applying pressure and cut the lead to two at 21-19, but the Tigers closed the set on a 4-1 run to win it 25-20 to regain the match lead. Robinson put together another five-kill set with a .444 hitting percentage, and Dotson followed with three kills and two aces.
Set 4
The Bruins jumped in front 8-3 when the Tigers called their first timeout. LSU gathered themselves and later tied the set at nine. From that moment, the clubs deadlocked five times before UCLA used its final timeout after kills from Robinson and Anwusi gave LSU a 17-15 lead. Both teams found themselves tied again at 19, and a Bruin kill capped a 3-0 run to provide the visitors with a 20-19 lead, forcing an LSU timeout.
With no remaining timeouts, the teams tied three more times, but the Bruins ended the set on a 4-0 run to win 25-22 and force a fifth set.
Set 5
UCLA took a 6-3 lead to begin the final set to convince LSU to call for time and led 8-4 when the teams switched sides. The Bruins stretched their lead to 11-5 when the Tigers used their final timeout of the set and ultimately won 15-6 behind a 4-1 run to end the match.
Up Next
LSU will participate in the Bluejay Invitational Sept. 1-3 hosted by Creighton in Omaha, Neb.
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